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I have a new laptop with Vista OS.There are three other computers on my network. All these computers are running XP and Windows update are current.There is a laptop, a desktop with an Epson local printer, a desktop with a Lexmark printer.I...

Hello folks, hope you can help me. We currently have a desktop PC at home which runs Windows XP Pro. I have just bought myself a new laptop (HP Pavilion dv2000), which is also currently running XP. My new laptop however is eligible for a free upgrade to Windows Vista. I have been getting used to my new laptop over the past week and setting up my network, so that I can share media files from my desktop to my laptop (desktop PC wasn't powerful enough to do some video editing, which is why I bought the laptop). Will it be ok for me to upgrade my laptop to Vista, have my desktop running XP and still be able to share files and generally network my computers as normal?

My 3 PC's all have Vista and are all in the same workgroup. File and Print Sharing is enabled on all machines from Network Centre.

I have no firewalls.

All computers appear when I click Network, however the moment I click and try access C Drive or USB Keys or Printers on any of the computers, I get an error message. Please see the screenshot attached. What the hell am I doing wrong?

Is there something I need to enable in the Permissions area? ie: Full Access for all users/groups etc. The moment I try giving Full Access, I get prompted with a message saying, Doing this will cause access problems, bla bla bla... see screenshot...

I have a network with mixed wireless and wired LAN.
Amongst other things I have 3 Windows machines on the network:

Tim-Laptop - running Vista connected wirelessly
FionaHG - running XP Pro SP2 connected wired
Tim64FC - running XP Pro SP2 connected wired

All 3 machines have their workgroup set to RENUKAFARM
The wireless SSID (relevant as it appears in the network pictures below) is 33ChurchMeadow

I have downloaded and installed the network discovery service for XP recommended on the help to allow Vista to discover XP machines (on both XP machines).

Hope this is the right forum. I was wondering if there was a how to guide on setting up a home network. I have a Linksys Vonage router and a Linksys Wireless access point. My desktop is wired to the router and is connected to a usb printer/fax and an external Iomega 250GB hard drive. My laptop is connected through wireless with an Intel 3945bg adapter (HP nc8430).

I'd like to be able to access my files on my desktop and external hard drive as well as printer or fax to the printer from my wireless laptop. Is this possible? How do I set this up? Right now I have Vista Ultimate on the laptop and the desktop is running XP Pro and Vista Enterprie in a dual boot. Can I setup to share the usb hard drive and printer if I'm in either Vista or XP Pro on the desktop?